Settling in and daily things

I’ve been lax about posting again… In four days we will have our one month anniversary here! In truth I’ve been busy with life stuff and I’ve been spending some quality time with myself.

Moving is hard work, and moving as an expat has so many extra added things to navigate. It’s not just where do I find the grocery store (and how do I get there), it’s what do I buy at the grocery store that most closely resembles what my family is used to eating. While you can buy basically anything here, it doesn’t all taste the same and it’s frequently not the same brand. Buying everything in a grocery store that I have to drive to is something I’m still adjusting to as well. I hadn’t fully realized how much I loved walking to do all my shopping until I had to start driving to the store again. I’m still trying to get the hang of shopping for more than one day at a time again.

My time gets taken up with figuring out where to find things, and how to organize them, with a side of sending strongly worded emails to the shipment company. WHERE IS MY STUFF!?! Oh and brooding about buy a used car. What kind of car do we need? How do I make sure it’s in good shape? Where do I take it to get it checked out? Why do I feel so sketchy about a private party sale? How do we change the registration? And on, and on…. I have a tendency to stick my head in the sand and hope someone else deals with it when I feel this way about something. Being an expat has definitely helped me face up to that. You just can’t put your head deep enough in the sand to avoid it, you have to take a deep breath and get it done.

All of this is juxtaposed against sweet moments like last night at dinner when both kids admitted they didn’t like having their own rooms and that they missed each other. They both said the other made them feel safer, and my heart just about exploded with love for them and the love they have for each other. We moved their beds to the same room last night, and I actually think they did sleep better.

So now we have a spare bedroom, also known as our new guest room (once I get around to getting it outfitted) for anyone who wants to come for a visit… 😜

We also hired a gardener, because I have a notoriously black thumb, and very little interest in improving as a gardener. He hasn’t made it to the back garden yet (next week inshallah 😂), but the front is already looking lovely.

And just for fun here’s a few more pictures; the view down the street, our front hall full of family travel selfies, and the school playground as seen from my bedroom window.